Pickup for electrical stringed musical instruments



Nov. 4, 1941. w. L. FULLER PICKUP FOR ELECTRICAL STRINGED MUSICALINSTRUMENTS Filed March 18, 1940 ATTORNEY.

INVENTOR. WALTER L. FULLEE BY W%@ V to Patented Nov. 4,- 1941 UNITEDSTATES PATENT- orrlce Walter L. Fuller, Kalamazoo, Micla,

assignor to Gibson, Inc., Kalamazoo, Micln, aoorpo'ration of. MichiganApplication March 18, 1940, Serial No. 324,461

3 Claims. (Cl. 84-115) This invention relates to improvements in pickupsfor electrical stringed musical instruments.

The main objects of this invention are:

First, to. provide an improved magnetic pickup Ior electricalreproduction of the playing of stringed instruments which is compact andefiective in operation.

Second, to provide a pickup of the type described which is readilyapplicable to and detachable .trom stringed musical instruments ofvarious types.

Third, to provide a pickup which can be mounted on or removed from aninstrument with a minimum of difiiculty and which in mounted positionthereon does not detract from the appearance of the instrument orhandicap the playing thereof in the usual'man'ner.

Further objects of my invention will appear from the description tofollow. The invention is defined in the claims. A structure embodyingthe features of my invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing,wherein:

Fig. 1 is a top view illustrating an instrument with-the pickup of myinvention applied therein a position assumed thereby when mounted on theinstrument, which is indicated in dotted lines.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view in section on line 3-3 of Fig. 4,illustrating the construction and arrangement of the parts of the pickupand the relation thereof to the strings of the instrument.

to be effectively mounted on the exterior thereof in a simple manner soas to convert the conventional sound box bodied instrument into one forelectrical amplification. To this end the de- Fig. 2 a perspective viewillustrating the gen-f eral appearance of the pickup with the instrumentresides in the details or constructionpi the pickup per se which renderthe same highly effective in operation though exceedingly compact inform. A still further and highly important feature is to provide adevice having'these advantages which does not interfere with or handicapthe player. 7

Referring to the drawing, reference numeral i indicates a guitar typeinstrument on which the pickup of my invention, generally designated 2,is mounted. This pickup comprises a housing or case i which is open atone end and has secured in the open end an insulated outlet block 4affording a pair of connector sockets Ii for the reception of the prongsof a plug 6 on a cord 1 by which the pickup is connected to a suitableamplifier. A jack 8 is disposed on the other end of the cord for thispurpose.

The socket connections 5 are connected to the ends oi! a coil 9 of finewire, which is wound around an elongated laminated metal core ll encasedin suitable insulating material H. The thus constituted elongated coilis disposed in the bottom half of the casing 3 and above the same Iplace an elongated magnetic bar i2. The coil and bar extend practicallythe entire length of the case I, as illustrated in Fig. 3, and aredisposed beneath the strings II of the instrument in such manner thatthe variation in the intensity 0! the magnetic field oi the magnet,conventionally indicated by the dotted lines H in Fig. 4, sets up smallelectrical currents in the coil which are transmitted by the cord 1 tothe amplifier and magnified therein. The amplifier is connected to asuitable loud speaker in a manner which will be appreciated by thoseskilled in the art.

In order to enable the pickup to be readily mounted on the instrument, Isecure the above described casing to a flexible fibrous or cloth strapll, utilizing prongs l8 spot welded on the bottom of the housing or case3 for this purpose. If desired, a protective strip of felt or othermaterial ll may be secured beneath this strap so as to avoid anylikelihood of scratching or marring the finish of the instrument. Asuitable buckle I! attached to the strap enables the same to be vice tobe hereinafter described is simple, compact in its parts,'and maybereadily applied and removed, and does not detract from the appearanceof the instrument when in operative position thereon. Another aspect ofthe invention similarly fitted to an instrument of any type or size.Thus, in Fig. 1, I show the pickup attached to a guitar type instrumentat the narrowest part of the\ girth thereof, 1. e., between the bridgeand tret arm, and it will be appreciated that it may be atta'chedto anyinstrument.

In Fig. 5, I illustrate a modified embodiment of my invention, whereinthe pickup 2 is spot welded to a bar it carried on a wire rod adjustingarm 19!. A clip 20 is adjustably slidable and securable with relation toarm I! in order to permit the desired spacing of the pickup lengthwiseof the strings and I contemplate that this clip be removably attachableto the bridge of the instrument utilizing e wing nut 2| thereon for thispurpose.

In the modification of Fig. 6, the pickup 2 is attached to the medialpoint of a clip member 22 which has 2. forked end provided with springarms 2%. One of these arms may be inserted in the tone hole ofinstrument having such a tone hole directly beneath the strings thereof,the arms 23 irictionally gripping the wood of the top surface or smellof the lnstrucent body. The other extremity ii of the clip ill-is bentso as to rest on the at the opposite side of the tone hole from thatwith which the arms 23 are frlctionally engaged. The pickup 22 is spotwelded to a cross bar '23 such manner as aud extend transversely of thest: 5.

In each or the pick 1 ing means .e above described modifications, s perse the same, the mountfor uni? varying, depending upon or the type ofinstrument yed. I find that a pickup I ted in Figs. 3 and i is extremelyre? re since the disposition of the maguet l2 above and over the twosides of the elongated coil provides the some effect as two magnets thelines of force as indicated. The

- slightest vibration of the strings is efiective to set up currents inthe coil which are faithfully representative in their intensity of thevibration occurring in the string, "whether it be bass or treble. Thewhole unitis exceedingly compact and proof against damage bymistreatment. It

may be assembled and removed in an instant and,'

being quite inexpensively produced, is available widely to convert theconventional instrument for electrical reproduction in a seconds time.

i lmmmsum I have illustrated and described my improvements inembodiments which are very practical. I have not attempted to illustrateor describe other embodiments which I contemplate as it is believed thisdisclosure will enable those skilled in the art to adapt my invention asmay be desired.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

1. In an electrically amplified stringed musical instrument having abridge and a pickup disposed transversely of the strings, means foradjustably mounting the pickup on the instrument for adiustmentlongitudinally of the strings, comprising a clip removably engageablewith the bridge of the instrument, an arm extending longitudinally ofthe strings and secured to the pickup, and means for adjustably securingsaid arm to the clip to variably pQsitlon the pickup longitudinally ofthe strings.

2. In an electrically amplified stringed musical instrument having abridge and a pickup disposed transversely of the strings, means foredjustably mounting hte pickup on the instrument for adjustmentlongitudinally of the strings, comprising a support removably engageablewith the irstrume'nt, an arm extending longitudinally of the strings andsecured to the pickup, and means for

